Evania was still getting used to Sylvia being incredibly happy. Now her mother and siblings were staying for a few days for a visit, with the twins thinking about coming to the school with their own mates to take classes.
Sylvia was a lot.
Sylvia, Sol and their mother?
It was a lot.
Thankfully Mani seemed to be very good at calming the rest of them down, and Sylvia did not overwhelm Evania with her excitement. Between the two of them they could pull Gwen and Sol away from the shy vampire pretty easily.
Evania was seated in the living room with Sylvia and Gwen cooking in the kitchen together while Sol stood on the other side of the island talking and joking loudly with them. Mani sat beside Evania, likely doing her best to keep her company in some way. Sylvia kept glancing over at them even as Evania went through her homework.
"Are you doing okay?" Mani asked her, barely above a whisper but due to their proximity Evania was able to hear her clearly.
Evania nodded a bit. I'm not used to such a happy family. Sylvia can be a lot by herself, though it is amusing to see where she got it from.
"They can be a lot." Mani agreed with a small smile. "But they're also understanding of personal space."
Evania glanced up at the family of succubi again, watching as Gwen pointed to Sylvia's tail as she was cooking.
"I don't really know why my skin darkened and some parts are purple. Maybe it has something to do with Kendra and Kai." She shrugged. "I'm not complaining though, I look like a badass."
"It is pretty cool sis'." Sol smiled, leaning her head on her hand like she was daydreaming. "Wish I could transform like you can."
"Aw, are you jealous of my awesomeness?" Sylvia retorted.
"Careful, Syl. Wouldn't want me to make you look like a joke in front of your girlfriend."
Sylvia scoffed and leaned over the counter towards her sister. "I can send you back to yours in pieces."
"Enough you two. If you want to show off so badly then go play around in that arena on the campus. I'm sure the whole school would love to see Syl and Red go at it." Gwen rolled her eyes as she moved some things around on a pan.
Sylvia flicked water onto her sister's face before leaning away before she could do anything about it. Red stood up with a growl but they all paused at the knock on the door. Evania went to stand but Mani put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"It's Levian and Lyndi." She answered before turning and waving at the door. The door opened with two unfamiliar faces standing on the other side. They came in with gentle smiles where the shorter one stepped in as the taller closed the door behind them.
The taller one had brown hair and blue eyes and she smiled warmly at Evania who waved meekly back as the girl leaned over and kissed Mani on the top of the head. The shorter girl had black hair and golden eyes, looking more toned and athletic than Evania herself, and as she went to jog past the couch she paused to look at Evania before she smiled brightly.
"Hey! Vampire friend!" The girl noted, motioning between the two of them.
Evania gave another nervous wave with a shy smile.
"Go easy on her Lyn." Mani noted. "She's a little overwhelmed with all the crazy succubi already." She motioned towards the rest of her family still in the kitchen.
"Does she need to be rescued?" Levian asked, tapping Mani on the shoulder.
Rescued? Evania questioned in Mani's mind.
"Do you want to go into your bedroom and do your homework in peace? I can help if you want." Levian offered.
Lyn chuckled. "Sorry. I can be a bit much."
Evania turned back to Lyn and shook her head. She started signing before realizing that Lyn wouldn't be able to understand it, however Mani started translating quickly. "She says 'You're fine. I'm just not used to so many people with Sylvia's personality. Two is usually the max before Kai lights something on fire.'"
"Fair enough." Lyn chuckled before moving to sit beside Red at the island. Sylvia glanced over their shoulders at Evania with a gentle smile.
If you want to go by yourself just say so. No one will be upset if you want to step out.
But you're all going to be eating soon.
You don't have to eat with us if you don't want to Treasure. You have a ton of homework that you need to get done.
Evania sighed deeply and started collecting her things. She turned to Levian before sending her thoughts out. I don't want to keep you two from eating, but I do have a lot of homework to get done.
"My offer still stands. I can help if you want me to." Levian motioned.
Evania looked like she wanted to decline, but she nodded a bit and motioned for Levian to follow before tapping Mani on the shoulder and giving her the same motion. The two of them stood up before heading into Evania's room with Levian following them.
When the door closed, Lyn turned to Sylvia with a look of guilt. "Did I say something wrong?"
Sylvia smiled, glancing at the door. "No. Evania's just very shy. She gets along with Mani really well, which I'm so grateful for."
"Why didn't you go with her?" Lyn asked.
"I'm making dinner." Sylvia held up the tray she was preparing food on. "Unless you'd like raw food, I have to stay."
"Eva will be fine with Mani and Levian. Not to mention they can help her with her homework, almost as much as you could Syl." Red added.
Sylvia rolled her eyes. "You act like I'm a super computer."
"You mean you aren't?" Lyn raised a playful eyebrow. "I thought you were a robot all this time."
Sylvia laughed and nudged her mother. "Do you hear these two?"
"You act like you're not the exact same way." Gwen scoffed.
---
"And you divide by X here." Levian pointed the pencil to Evania's notebook. Evania's face lit up into a grin as she finally finished an equation that had been troubling her for the last hour or so. She set her own pencil down to sign a quick 'thank you'.
"My pleasure. Though I'm surprised you're taking math. I had heard that this school offered degrees without the need for basic academics." Levian noted, glancing to Blue who was laying on her side beside the two of them with her eyes closed, holding her head up with her hand.
She looked back at Evania who answered in sign. "I intend to help take over the school when my mother passes away. I don't think I'll be the Headmaster, but I'd still like to be on the Board of Directors to follow in her footsteps." Evania explained.
"That's an awesome goal to have." Levian smiled.
"Did you want to attend this school?"
"Mani and I are thinking about it." Levian answered before narrowing her eyes at said hybrid. "Though she did just fall asleep on us, which I'm sorry about. She does that a lot."
Evania smiled, putting her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter before she continued signing. "I think all of you are good fits for this school. I'm sure Sylvia enjoys having her siblings around."
"They're always talking." Levian smiled. "I'm glad they get along with their family so well."
"Do you have siblings?"
"No, unfortunately. But I talked to my parents pretty often. They were petrified when I told them I was going to go to the Wizard's Tower."
"Why?"
"I'm a descendent of Merlin." Levian answered with a guilty smile. "The more magic I used, the shorter my life expectancy was. My dad refused to use magic at all, so that he could live a long happy life. I didn't want that."
"Are you okay now? I don't want anything -"
"I'm fine now. Mani made me immortal to prevent my curse from spreading any farther." Levian explained. "I get to spend my eternity with my awesome girlfriend and her awesome family."
Evania nodded a bit, glancing over to Mani who appeared to be perfectly comfortable where she was, enjoying the quiet life with her family and friends.
"Does Mani take care of you?"
Evania nodded. "She might not be as playful as Syl, but she's protective. She knows when I feel uncomfortable the same way that Syl does and if she's nearby she comes to by rescue."
"The way that Mani joins in conversations is by picking someone nearby to hear through. The way that you send your thoughts to people, she does in reverse. Using their thoughts to listen to a verbal conversation since she can't by herself. It's why most people don't even realize she's deaf." Levian explained. "Right now, obviously, she's not in this conversation at all, so we can be as loud as we like and she won't wake. Until you move, then she might wake up."
Evania smiled at Mani again. "Everyone in Sylvia's family is very nice. I have no complaints with anyone."
"Except that most of them are very loud." Levian smiled warmly.
After a few more minutes of Levian helping Evania with her homework, Sylvia knocked on the door gently before stepping in. "Hey, dinner's all set whenever you guys are ready no to join us."
Levian stretched before picking herself up off the floor. Mani yawned, and climbed to her feet as well, though Evania didn't look like she wanted to move. She looked up from her homework at Sylvia who just smiled down at her.
"It's alright Treasure. I know you have a lot of homework to do. Come on out if you feel like it, otherwise I'll check up on you in a bit okay?"
Evania answered with a smile reaching out and gently taking Levian's hand as a silent thank you before the three of them left the room, leaving the vampire to her school work.
She finished two more pages before she stood up from the floor and stretched, listening to the laughter from the other room. She quietly made her way to the door and peeked out, finding everyone sitting on the couches with their plates on the coffee table, eating and joking around happily.
Why did this family make her so nervous? She got along well with Sylvia's sisters, and Levian. Was it just Gwen that made her so anxious? Was there really a reason for it beyond the fact it was her girlfriend's mother? She really didn't know what had her so stressed and concerned.
She went to give her cheek a gentle slap, like she was going to wake herself up but paused, realizing that Sylvia would probably not be expecting it. Instead she took a deep breath, and opened the door.
Sylvia glanced over, as did Gwen and Mani, but they went back to the conversation at hand, and didn't say anything to her. Evania could tell that they didn't want to put a lot of attention on her, and was honestly so very grateful for it.
She went into the kitchen and went to make a blood substitute when she realized her succubus had already made her a smoothie and left it in the fridge for her. She rolled her eyes and couldn't hold back the smile as she picked it up and made her way into the living room. Sylvia's eyes lit up with familiar joy as Evania made her way over, and the succubus quickly made room.
The vampire sat between Sylvia and Mani with Sylvia placing a comforting hand on Evania's knee in silent support. Mani gave her a quick tap on her other knee before leaning back into Levian who was discussing something with Sol, Gwen and Lyn who were seated opposite them. Evania was curious as to how her TV turned into a mirror image of her couch, but she didn't question it.
"You two go on plenty of adventures around Exodious. What's stopping you from settling here for a while?" Levian asked.
"Well, I didn't say I wasn't going to." Sol answered as she rolled her eyes like that was supposed to be obvious. "I just said there was more I wanted to do elsewhere."
Levian turned to Lyn who was raising her glass to her lips. "Aviri Nightshade is teaching Alchemy."
Lyn paused mid sip before lowering the glass to look at Levian before scoffing. "Yeah right. Aviri wouldn't be teaching-"
Evania snapped her fingers before pointing to Levian and nodding to Lyn.
"What?! Seriously!?" Lyn whined. "She refused to teach me anything when I was living with them!"
"Maybe you're just too annoying." Levian noted with a chuckle. "I heard Aviri is very picky."
"No shit." Lyn grumbled. "Peredite was always nicer to me."
"I've never met them." Sylvia shrugged, leaning back into the couch. "I'd like to. Orenda is very sweet, if incredibly distracted."
"I didn't see Orenda at the castle for the few months I was there." Lyn noted. "Peredite wanted to make sure my seal was in place before letting me do my own thing."
Sol chuckled. "I'm glad you chose to come to the Tower."
"I know you are Minx." Lyn grinned, gently patting Sol on the cheek.
"Yes, we've all heard the story about how you drugged her and had sex in a classroom." Sylvia scoffed.
Evania nearly choked on her smoothie.
Lyn groaned as Sol laughed. "You make it sound like it was intentional. I didn't know I was going to have visitors. I was burning Nightshade for good luck. Plus we established it did not effect either of us."
Gwen laughed, leaning on the arm rest of the chair like she was just happy to be listening to the banter between everyone.
"So what about you mother, what do you plan on doing?" Sylvia asked.
"Well, after hearing you talk up this school so much I'm certainly interested in it. Though I don't know exactly what I have to offer the school." Gwen shrugged. "And I'm not sure how much they want a living legend walking around on campus."
"I'm assuming that's why you go by 'Gwen'?" Sol questioned.
"If I go around introducing myself as Guinevere then people will be a little shocked to see me." Gwen chuckled. "Though I suppose there are other legends living on this campus much more interesting than I."
"You're literally the former Queen of England." Sylvia narrowed her eyes.
"Former being the operative word. It has been a very long time since I held any sort of seat of power." Gwen waved them off.
"So what's dad been up to?" Sol asked, glancing down into her own smoothie. Though where Evania's was vanilla, Sol's seemed to be blueberry flavored.
"Galivanting in ruins I believe." She opened her palm and created a small purple sigil before flicking her fingers through it. When her hand stilled she was holding a small card which she handed Sol who set her drink down and opened it up.
She grinned ear to ear before offering the little card to Mani who looked over it. Evania could see that it was a sketch of a man with a big bushy black beard, and black hair under a large brimmed hat. He was smiling so widely, that his eyes were closed as he held up a large rod that looked almost like a staff, decorated in ancient hieroglyphs.
"He sent this to me a week or so ago, along with a letter promising he would be coming home within the month." Gwen answered.
"I think it's so cool that your dad is like, a professional archeologist." Levian sighed, nudging Mani playfully. "Why don't you take me to see him? Do you know how badly I want to be there, uncovering ancient artifacts?"
"Yes." Mani noted with an amused smirk. "I do."
Levian groaned and rolled her eyes.
"Even if she brought you to accompany him, he can be rather difficult on his trips. He has difficulty focusing on anything other than his work when he is away. At home he's perfect, if still a bit eccentric. Even I have difficulty standing him when he's working." Gwen laughed. "The only one who could was Sylvia."
Evania turned her head to her girlfriend who just smiled at her mother. "I made his job easy, and you know how much I like a good puzzle."
"You can be just as bad as he is." Sol agreed before nudging Lyn. "This one time we were at one of his dig sites, and we couldn't find them for hours. We thought they might have gotten buried under rubble somewhere."
"Turns out, they had gone into the deepest parts of the ruin -alone- to decode a massive wall of glyphs. Apparently Oscar's usual translator was taking too long, and moments after we arrived he whisked Sylvia away." Gwen rolled her eyes.
"Of course she can do in minutes what takes an expert weeks." Sol added. "So we rush into the ruin with everyone ready to drag their bodies out of the rocks, only to find Sylvie floating over the images and translating with dad scribbling them down as fast as he can in his notebook."
Evania smiled and looked up at Sylvia who's cheeks were a little red. "Hey, I had a lot of fun with it. I couldn't turn it down."
"Sometimes I wonder if he married me for me, and not just to have you working with him." Gwen laughed.
"H-Hey! Sure, I get along really well with him, but that doesn't mean he doesn't love you!"
"I know, I know." Gwen waved her off. "I was just glad you did get along with him. I was always terrified you were going to tell me you didn't like him."
"It's not like you would have left him. You loved him." Sylvia rolled her eyes.
"As much as I love Oscar, you are and will always be far more important to me. All of you." She reached over and wrapped an arm around Sol's shoulders, pulling her into a hug even as she looked back at Sylvia. "If you told me you didn't like him, that you didn't want him around, then that would have been it. I would have left without a second thought."
Sylvia blinked. "You would give up your own happiness for me?"
"It's a mother's job to do everything in their power to ensure their child's happiness. If you didn't like him, I wouldn't let my feelings get in the way. That goes for all of you." She looked to Sol and Mani before her eyes passed to everyone else in the room, lingering on Evania for an extra second or two before she looked back at Sylvia. "What we went through together was beyond hard. If you weren't ready to move on then neither was I. I might not get to see you as much as I see Sol and Mani, but you will always be my Treasure, Sylvie. Please don't forget that."